The Life of Johannes Vermeer Trivia Quiz

Answer: Delft

Born in 1632 in Delft, he lived there most if not all of his life. The blue style of painting dishes and or fragile pieces of artwork is named after this town. Of the 36 paintings attributed to him, there are a few that show scenes from his hometown.

If by chance you put Poffertjes, that is not a town; that is a delightful pastry shaped like a small half-dollar size pancake. You should try them some time, they are made at booths here in my hometown during Tulip Time, a festival in my hometown celebrating our Dutch heritage. It occurs the first weekend in May in Pella, Iowa. Sorry, any self-respecting Dutchman can't help getting off track when talking about Poffertjes. Mmmmm. Next question...

Answer: 43

Late in his days, he went into a frenzy, and never recovered. Johannes in his adult life went by the first name Jan, and that is what is listed on his grave marker.

Answer: He married once; her name was Catharina Bolnes.

Catharina came from a well-to-do family. She was from Gouda (yes, where the cheese is named after). She was slightly older than Jan, and very devoted to preserving his work after he passed.

Answer: fifteen

Jan was blessed (depending on your point of view) with eleven children that survived infanthood; four of their children died very early in their lives. As was customary, children were often named after the children's grandparents. But evidence points to Jan possibly being estranged from his parents, as none of the eleven are named after them.

Answer: Women

Of his 36 paintings, 32 feature women in them somewhere, and 23 of the 36 feature only women. He always painted them in rather mundane situations, but in a manner that gave them a stateliness and dignity. None of Vermeer's female models have ever been truly identified; Vermeer never specified who they were, and any words that state who they are is merely speculation.

Answer: Pearls

Eleven of Vermeer's 36 paintings have pearls in them. Pearls were likely a status symbol during his time, and he found a method for painting them that seemed to make them three-dimensional, most notably in the famous "Girl With a Pearl Earring".

Answer: The same room

Vermeer did a good amount of his work in the upstairs loft of his house. You can see by the light coming in at the same angle from the upper left-side window, and the black-and-white checkerboard pattern that appears on the floor, that likely he created the many scenes in this same room.

While the signature on his paintings did stay similar near the end of his life, it bounced around in different forms during his first two-thirds of his work, seeming to change almost painting to painting.

The people and clothes in his paintings did reoccur, but rarely.

Answer: Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli is a rock mined in the Afghan mines. Its use as a pigment has gone away mostly, as synthetic ultramrine has since been developed. Most painters used the less expensive azurite, but Vermeer didn't appreciate the lack of intensity that it had compared to Lapis Lazuli.

Answer: A music keyboard

A virginal is a keyboard instrument similar to a harpsichord. The instrument was most popular during the 17th century in Northern Europe, both the time and place of the Vermeer era.

Answer: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

All of the men listed came from the Netherlands, but van Leeuwenhoek lived in Delft in the same neighborhood as Vermeer. Antonie is known as the "father of microbiology" for his improvements on the microscope. Some have suggested that Vermeer's paintings, "The Astronomer" and "The Geographer" had van Leeuwenhoek as the model.

But about the same number of scholars state that there isn't much similarity in the face structure of the two men.